Davie
Village (also known as Davie District or simply Davie Street) is a
neighbourhood in the West End of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It
is the home of the city's gay subculture, and, as such, is often
considered a gay village, or gaybourhood. Davie Village is centred on
Davie Street and roughly includes the area between Burrard and Jervis
streets. Davie Street—and, by extension, the Village—is named in honour
of A.E.B. Davie, eighth Premier of British Columbia from 1887 to 1889;
A.E.B's brother Theodore was also Premier, from 1892 to 1895.
Along Davie Street are a variety of shops, restaurants, services, and
hotels catering to a variety of customers, in addition to private
residences. The business with the most notoriety is Little Sister's Book
and Art Emporium ("Little Sister's"), a gay and lesbian bookstore,
because of its ongoing legal battles with Canada Customs that have
received extensive national media coverage. Many businesses and
residents along Davie Street and in the West End generally also fly
rainbow flags as a symbol of gay pride, and many of the covered bus stop
benches and garbage cans along Davie Street are painted bright pink.
The Village hosts a variety of events during the year, including the
Davie Street Pride Festival which runs in conjunction with Vancouver's
annual Gay Pride Parade, during which sections of the street are closed
to motor traffic.
Davie Day is also held each year in early September, to celebrate local
businesses and the community itself. This Day is designed to build
awareness and promote the surrounding businesses, and is focused around
Jervis to Burrard Street.
The Davie Street Business Association coined the name "Davie Village"
in 1999 and also commissioned banners from local artist Joe Average,
which fly from lampposts in the district. The two-sided banners depict a
rainbow flag on one side and a sun design by Average on the other.
Davie Village is also home to the offices of Xtra! West, a biweekly
LGBT newspaper, Qmunity (formerly the Gay and Lesbian Centre) which
provides a variety of services for the city's lesbian, gay, bisexual,
and transgender residents, and the Vancouver Pride Society, which puts
on the annual Pride Parade and Festival.
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